Building construction



spt. 1, 1925.

- J. P., cOwING BIvJ'ILDING CONSTRUCTION une 18,' 1921 Original FilledJ 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 sept. `1, 192s. 1,552,393

J. P. COWING BUILDING GONSTHUG'TION l original med June 1a, 1921 2 sheets-shoe: 2

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Patented Sept. l, 1925.

UNITED STATES JOHN I. COWING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO FRANCIS OSHAUG'HNESSY,

PATENT. omer..

TRUSTEE.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed June 18, 1921, Serial No. 478,483. Renewed April 22, 1925.

T o au whom it may concern.:

Be it known that JOHN I. CowiNG, a-

citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, State ofy Illinois, has invented an Improvement in Building Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to building construction, and more particularly to walls comprising structural units of stone, terra cotta or other material susceptible of being damaged by undue compression.

Among other objects, the invention is in- V tended to supply a structural organization having provision for avoiding the effects of excessive compression stresses, such as are frequently manifested in buildings by theA cracking or defacing of stone, terra cotta or other building units. For instance, blocks or tiles forming the exterior surfaces of buildings, and often having only moderate crushing strength, are sometimes found to be so stressed by compressive forces that corners of blocks or tiles are spalled 0H, leaving exposed mutilations, or whole faces of the blocks or tiles are broken away. Such effects as these are intended torbe avoided by the use of the present invention.

The character of the invention will be best understood by iefereiice to one illustrative structure containing an embodiment thereof, which is shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical crosssection of the illustrative structure.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the section shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of a portion of a compressible filler employed in the illustrative structure, the section being taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3, p

The illustrative structure comprises a main wall 5 of concrete or other material, and a facing 4wall 6 made up of structural units, for instance terra cotta tiles. According to a conventional practice, tie-bolts 7, 8 and 9 are shown anchored in the main wall 5 at vertical intervals to tie thereto iron angle-bars 10, 11 and 12, each presentinga horizontal ledge or shelf which is interposed in the facing wall 6 and affords supporting means for a superposed tier of the tiles. Thus in Fig. 1 a tier of tiles 13, 14 and 15 is shown superposed upon the angle bar 10; a tier of tiles 16, 17 and 18 upon the angle bar 11; and the tile 19 represents the first course of a similar tier of tiles superposed upon the angle bar 12.

Mortar 20 may be employed for bonding the elements of the facing wall where desired. The usual practice has been to bond together the severa-1 courses of tiles and interposed angle bars by 1mortar applied between -the courses and around the horizontal ledges of the angle bars, thus forming a substantially `solid Wall with the supporting shelves or ledges embedded therein. mortar usually sets to a hardness and compression strength approximating orl even exceeding the hardness and compression strength of building units such as stone or terracotta blocks, tiles or the like. Hence a facing wall or analogous structure, as 4constructed prior to the present invention, wasb to such an extent rigid in the vertical direction that the occurrence of successive compression stresses, due to load temperature expansion or otherwise, would be likely to rupture or deface the tiles orother units composing the structure.

For relieving such conditions, the facing wall of the illustrative structure is provided at intervals with so-called pressure-relieving joints, adapted to be contracted by expansion of or thrust in the wall structure transverselyof the joints, so as to ermit yielding or relative play between a 'acent superposed sections or zones of the wa l and thus avoid the transmission of unduecompressionstresses to the tiles. The Wall elements are or may be bonded by mortar in the usual way, except that no non-yielding The binder unites the particular elements befiller.v

wall may be constructed with the supporting angle barfor la zone spaced above the top of the subjacent Zone, the intervening space being filled with a compressible medium or Such aconstruction, providing a pressure relieving joint which need notbe load-sustaining and which may be embodied l in a wall structure having superposed zones may separately supported independently of each other, possesses certain advantages 1n the `work of erecting such walls; and this conl. struction also lends itself readily torepalrk work on old walls to convert them 'fromthe' solid or non-jointed type into the pressurerelieving type exemplified in the present case, as the necessary space for the joint be cut out. under wall-supporting shelves in existing Walls.

' toward each other. The opposite edges of the layers 24 and 25 may be .bent toward each other as indicated at 27 in Fig. 4, and

vthe edge of one of the outer layers opposite the fold may be flanged as indicated at 28 in Fig. 3, for completely housing the intermediate corrugated layer, .preferably the several layers, including the intermediate corrugated sheet26, are formed of ductile metal, such as lead;` thereby providing a filler composed of layers which are in themselves compressible while at thesame'time the filler as a whole is compress'ible apart. ,from compressibility of the material itself.

However,.such a filler will compress by more or less. crunching down of the corrugations of the intermediate layer. If desired, graphite 29 or vother lubricant material may be placedo'between the layers to facilitate relative slippage between'the respective layers under the action of excessive compression stresses, promoting a spreading or expansive action ofthe corrugated layer.

. The describedI type of compressible filler,

lwhich is exceedingly simple and practicable for the purpose vof a pressure-relieving joint,

, may be usefully employed at any appro ri- 'sufficient to cause fracture or cru ate intfin the structure and ma be rea ily designed ,to withstand a desire dead load or pre-determmed pressure less (by areason ble ymargin of safety) than a ressure Shing of tiles in the zone or portion of the Wall to be protected. Should compression stresses in excess of such pre-determined pressure be transmitted either through the zone of the wall above or below the filler, whether by weight, temperature expansion, contraction of the supporting structure for the wall, or flexing' of the wall (as in the case of vibration of a tower), the filler will yield suiii.- 'ciently to absorb such excessive stresses. Thus the wall will absorb expansion tendencies and thrust before the pressure becomes .upward thrust of the subjacent zone of the wall or downward thrust of the supporting means for the superposed zone, as for instance in case of contraction of the main structure of the" building carrying the wall supporting angle bars or other supportin means.

As herein represented, the eompressibl'e filler rests upon a mortarbed on the topmost tlles of a zone of the wall, and the superposed zone is supported upon a mortar bed supported in part by the angle bar and in part on the filler, the width of the wall and iller in this instance being greater than that of the portion of the angle bar interposed in the Wall. The illustrated mortar arrangement is non-essential.

The compressible fillers employed in the illustrative structure may be of any desired dimensions Within the selection of those skilled in the art to suit the problems encountered, and may be inserted between the courses of tile or elements of tliewall structure in layers of any desired length. For example in Fig. 2, the fillers are indicated as formed in sections but joined at Atheir ends las indicated at 30.l Division of the Wall into zones by a plurality of the illustrative pressure-relieving joints at vertical intervals, will cause excessive pressures arising in the structure in directions transverse of the joints to contract one or more of the compressible fillers, for absorbing "such stresses'to an extent sufficient to reduce the kdifferent problems of constructionI encoundanger of cracking or spalling off .the faces tered in actual building operations and to different materials and types of structures to which the subject-matter of the present invention is to be applied.

The main wall of the 'illustrative structure typifies any main supporting structure or frame work of a building to which a wall constrgction embodying the present invention is "to be applied; and the facing wall 6 with its supports provided by the'angle bars typilies any structure in which the invention may be embodied. A facing wall of terra cotta tiles is referred to, for illustration, because it -represents a type of struclture in which the use of the present invention is particularl advantageous because the terra cotta ti es, being designed for lightness, present relatively fragile and vulnerable units `in the structure, and it is important to protect them against the damaging effects which would be likely to result from compression stresses in the building unless relievedin the manner indicated. i

Having thus described my invention, I claim: y

l. A wall construction comprising a tier of structural units erected in zones; means for supporting thel respective zones substantially independently of each other; and pressure-relieving joints -between zones.

2. A wall construction comprising a tier of structural units divided into zones; a compressible filler interposed therein between zones; and independent zone-supportlug means for relieving such filler of the ,weight of the portion of the wall superposed thereon.

3. A wall constructionomprising a tier of structural units divided into zones; supporting means for a zone; and a pressurerelieving joint between said supporting means and a subjacent zone.

4. A wall construction comprising' a tier of structural units divided into zones; supporting means for a zone; and a compressible filler between such supporting means and the subjacentl zone.

5. A wall construction comprising a tier ing a plurality of supporting sur aces yin contact with said upper and lower layers and adapted to be compressed by excessive pressure.

7. A compressible filler for use as a pressure-relieving joint in a wall structure, comprising upper and lower metal layers and an intervening undulating or corrugated layer spacing said upper and lower layers,

the latter formed to house said intervening v l l layer.

8. A `compressible filler for use as a presi sure-relieving jointin a wall structure com prising a sheet of metal folded upon itself contacting with and spacing the outer layers provided by said folded sheet.

'75 and an intervening corrugated metal layer- In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification. j

JOHN P. cowINe. 

